Sled



Patented eb o, i923,

,y ou ci tarn lrailaltll SLED.

Application lcd January 3l, 1921.

'o aZZ @cho/m, t muy concern Be it known that l, EDWARD EnoNnN, acitizen of the Republic of Finland, residing in Fitchburg, county of`lvforcester and State of hlassachusetts, have invented certain new andusetul improvements in Sleds, of which the t'ollcnving` is a full,clear, and concise description.

My invention relates to sleds, and may be used with sleds of manydiiterent kinds, but is peculiarly adapted for use upon motor sleds,such, for instance as sleds which are propelled by meansof rotatingpropellers ot the type generally used upon aeroplanes.

More particularly stated, l seek to produce a sled, preferably driven byan aeroplane propeller, and ot a type suitable for travel upon both iceand snow, and provided with improved runners and with steering gearconnected with said runners tor actuatingthe same.

My invention further contemplates improved brake mechanisml arranged tocooperate with my improved runners, for the purpose of quicklyovercoming' the meinentum ol the sled, s-oas to bring' the sled to astand still without shook and without danger, within a very shortdistance of travel.

My invention further contemplates various improvements in. theconstruction olZ the sled, i-'or tbe iuirpose ol? iinpmving1 the reueral eiliciency ot the device,

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part ot thisspecification, and in which like reference characters indicate likeparts throughout the several figures.

Figure l is a plan view of my improved sled.

Figure 2 a side elevation of the same.

Figure is a fragmentary `front elevation 'of the device V niannerfin whin eacv runners is Ymoun ed.

A pair of skirunners are shown al' l 6, and have the form of wide boardsha Agr slightly curved .cross sections and provined with upturnedtrontends. These runners are provided with metallic tace members 7, 8made of sheet metal and serving the purpose of tires.

Connected with the runners 5 are a pair of 'trame beams/9, 1.0, andengaging the rear ends. of these frame beams isa cross board Serial No.44.1,15.

ll, resting upon angle irons l2 and serving as a seat for the operator.

Parallel with the board ll, and resting upon the trame beams 9, l0 aretwo cross boards 13, l-l. besting upon these cross boards are a pair otrelatively short boards l5, 16, serving` braces and each extending' inthe direction of the length of the sled. At the 'front end ot the sledacross beam 17 is secured to the frame beams 9. l() and to the skirunners 5, 6.

Mounted rigidly upon the iframe beams 9, l0 are a pair of frame members18, 19, each having the 2general torni of an inverted V. These framesare braced by metallic rods 20, 2l extendingbetween them.

Connected with the runners 16 and extending upwardly therefrom aretubular columns 22, and exteiulinp,` through these tubular columns arerods 23, provided with heads 2land having,` the form shown moreparticularly in Figure fl. The rods Q3 are litted with nuts 25, wherebythey are drawn tight. There are two pairs of these rods, exactly alike,one on each side of the sled. The two rods 23 shown in Figure 4; extendthrough an angle iron Q6, the latter being provided with a portion 27extending downwardly and secured by bolts 28 to a runner 30. anotherrunner 29 is provided quite similar to the runner 30. These two runners29, 3() are o'l the type known as keel runners, and are substantiallyparallel Yfith each other.

The keel runners 29, 30 are made preferably ot' spring` steel or brass,and are thickest where they are connected with the downwardlyextendingportions 27 ot the angle iron 26. From this point they taper inthickness, both toward the front and rear et the sled. They may be.iive-sixteenths of an inch thick where they are connected with thenumber taperi .j u off to about tive-sii:n teenths of an inclA inthicllness at their front and rear endss Mounted upon the cross board 13is a motor 3l. which may be either an internal comhusten engine or anivother kind of motor sulliciently light for the purpose and capable ofdevelopinpr a very high speed. Connected with the motor 3l by means of aclutch pulley shaft 32. A clutch 34e is used 'for the purpose ofthrowing?,- the shaft 32 into and out ot action as driven by the motor3l. A foot lever 35 is connected with the. clutch Se, and so positionedthat it may be operated and controlled bj: the operator as he sits11j-,ion the seat ll. lilngzuring the pulley 32 is a belt 3o, which alsoe 'ages a pulley il?. This pulley is mounted firmly upon the end ot ashaft 38, the latter eX- tending` horizontally through, and boingsupported by, a pair o'l bearings 39, eil). A propeller Ill is mountedupon the shaiit 3Q. so as to turn therewith when this shalt is driven:from the motor 3l.

A steerino' wheel appears at l2, and is mounted rigidly upon a.revoluble steering rod 4:3, the latter extending this h a tubularsteering post effi. lriounted rigidi-f.' upon the front or lower ends ofthe rod /l'l is a. crank ls?. pitman f6 is connected. with the crankA15, and is also connected with an actuating bar el?. The actuating barextends nearly the iull width of the sled, and at its ends is pivotallyconnected with the two lreel runners 30.

T he operator by turning` the steering wheel /l-Q to a limited extent ineither oi two directions, can cause the pitman el?) to pull or push theactuating bar Il? in the irection of its length, thus bonding or swayingthe front end portifms oit the lreol runners 29, 30.

The keel runners 2% 30 are more or less flexible throughout their entirelengths. Each oi' these lccl runners, becauf or its 'lorni abovedescribed-that is, it beim` thiol; in the middle and relatively thintoward its eiidsis adapted to bend throiwhout it.; entire length. Notonly that but 'n c rva'turc in flexing has a tendency to distributeitsoi t automatically throughoutthe length oi' the runner. vThis isespecially true because the rear end portion olf each runner has tendency to trail through the pah front end, as the runner olea-ves its waythrough snow or across ico. The result .is that the keel run, orsdevelop a inininuun ot Jfriction from their engagement with either iceor snow., or mixture ot' ice and snow. These runners exert little or noside drag upon either ice or snow. Bv their action they reduce to aminimum the amount of cleavage and scraping action which can develop asbetween them and the medien over which or through which they are adaptedto travel.

lt will ing gear and connections therefrom to keel runners, the lreelrunners are not any means rigidly held in position rel a-tively to the`trarne worlr of tle sled. This is true because each heel runner isdisconnected en tirely from the slri runner with which it is associated,except where the keel runner is secured by the bolts 28. Thus each keelrunner has very little restraint upon its flexibility. lt is for a veryshort distance, approximating its middle portion, secured rigidly, butat all other points is tree to bend.. lts tlexibilit17 is therefore verygreat, and moreover is distributed to great advantagetor the purpose otenabling the heel runners to bend uniformly throughout their length.

ln consequence of this arrangement, the

sled is well adapted to make exceedingly short turns, and in making anysorto turns the power wasted is reduced to a minimum. -tctual trial hasdemonstrated that my sled can be driven and steered so as to executecircles almost perfect in rotundity and of surprisingly shortv diameter.

lhe siti runners 5, 6, with their upturned ends and metallic tireshaving considerable spread ol' surface, have a tendency, when passingover snow, 'to pack the snow upon which 'they rest, thus increasing itsdensity and its stillness. ln doing this, the shi runners prepare thesnow tor the action ofthe lreel runners. That is to say, the lreelrunners are enabled to out clearly defined and sharply delineated pathsthrough the snow thus prepared by the action of the ski runners. Anotherway ot stating the same thing is, that the slri runners, having weightupon them and gliding rapidly over the snow, have a tendency to pressupon the snow just hard enough to enable the lreel runners to obtain agood grip in the snow. @n the other hand, it the sled is passing overhard and solid ice and in the absence of snow, the keel runners aloneengage the ice, and the ski runners .lo no harm they are supported outof engagement with the surface or the ice.

il pai r ot brake blades are shown at e8, e9, and are mounted. upon ashaft 50. This is supported by bearings, one of which is shown at 5l, inFigure 2. A brake lever 52 is mounted upon the shaft 50, and is usedtol.' actuating the brake blac es. Each ot these brake blades is twistedslightly or rendered spiral, so as to exert, when in action, a scoopingeffect upon any loose snow with which it is forced into immediateengagement, by the rocking of the shaft 50. Each brake blade a8, 4-9 isso shaped and arranged that when the blade is swung downwardly by actionof the brake lever 52, the brake blade acts .somewhat like a plow point,gathering loose snow and dragging it forward, so as to wedge tl e snowlaterally aga-inst the adjacent lreel ruimer. Thus each bralre bladecoacts with the keel runner immediately adjacent for the purpose ofcontinuously cornpressing snow, and continuously dragging portions ofthe snow thus compressed. This action increases the effectiveness of thebrake blades. Each brake blade acts in two distinct ways. It forceddownwardly quite hard it scrapes or drags through the snow and upon theice; and if any sott snow or mass of small pieces of broken ice liewithin its path, this snow or s da ice is continumlsly compressed bybeing forced laterally against the keel runner immediately adjacent. Inpractice, and especially when the sled is travelling over snow more orless soft, each brake blade leaves behind it a trail of snow more orless compressed, and formed into a substantially continuous row,comparatively narrow and in close proximity to the track made by thekeel runner.

In consequence of the double braking action brought about by each brakeblade as above described, the sled can be brought quickly to a standstill from a high rate of speed, and this too, without shock. Thus thebrake can be made to serve every purpose of an emergency brake. Again,the operator by the application of a slight pressure upon the brakelever can bring about a comparatively gentle braking action, such aswill not ordinarily have any effect upon the direction in which the sledis traveling, and will simply cause a reasonable reduction in speed,depending upon the pressure applied to the brake lever.

The operation of my device may be readily understood 'by the foregoingdescription.

The parts being assembled and arranged as shown land described, theoperator sits upon the seat ll, and readily controls the motor, thesteering wheel and the brake lever, in the manner above set forth.

I do not limit myself to the particular mechanism shown, as variationsmay' be made therein Without departing from my invention, the scope ofwhich is commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. A device of the character described, comprising a sled body providedwith a ski ruimer, a keel ruimer disposed below said ski runner and soformed as to be Hexible, said keel runner being secured by its middleportion to said ski runner and dis connected from said ski runner alongthe front and rear portions of the keel runner, and means controllableat the will of the operator for flexing the front portions of said keelrunner.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a sled body, a skirunner mounted thereupon, and a keel runner connected with said body andbeing fieXible, said keel runner being' provided with a thick middleportion and with thinner end portions, for the purpose of affecting theflexibility of the keel runner.

8. In a device of the character described the combination of a sled bodyski runners mounted thereupon, keel runners carried by said sled bodyand each provided with a rigid portion and with a flexible portionextending forwardly of said rigid portion, and steering` mechanismconnected with the forwardly extending portion of said keel runner forthe purpose of bending the same.

A device of the character described, comprising a sled body, an angleiron connected thereby and extending downwardly therefrom, and a keelrunner having a middle portion secured to said downwardly extendingportion of said angle iron, said keel runner being provided withflexible portions extending in opposite directions from said middleportion, the port-ion of said keel ruuner extending' in one directionbeing free so as to enable it to readily flex, and the portion of saidkeel runner extending in the direction opposite the last mentioneddirection being movable at the will of the operator.

EDI/VARI) ERONEU,

